It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (忧虑) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.
【小题1】 The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

1.Leave a note on your parents’ bedside table if___________.

A. your parents quarrel with each other

B. you find it difficult to talk with them

C. you want to be the best possible child

D. you go outside to your friend’s house

2.From the above we learn_________.

  A. if we want to help do house work, parents always refuse us.

B. your parents will be hurt if you get angry back at a wrong time.

C. parents often ground children and control their use of the telephone

  D. if we want to discuss with parents, we should wait till they are happy

3.The underlined word “compromise” probably means_________.

  A. 抗争           B. 妥协             C. 承诺         D. 辩论

4.What’s the topic of the above?

A. How to cooperate with family and friends

B. Arguments between children and parents

C. Tips for teenagers on family problems

D. Advice on educating angry children

5.You can read the above _________.

  A. in a magazine      B. in a newspaper

C. in a poster      D. on the Internet

Helping others is easier than you think. You don’t need to wait to become a rich man like Bill Gates to help poor. You can become a volunteer, you can donate(捐献) your time, you can donate your old clothes and so on. And in doing so, you can become a better and happier person.
Choose some people to support. for example, homeless people, poor children and so on. All of these are suitable(合适的).
Decide what you are able to give. Yes! Sometimes it isn’t only money—you can donate your time as a volunteer, you can donate your knowledge teaching poor children, you can donate your old clothes, you can donate food or you can share a meal with a hungry child.
Tell people about it. Tell your friends or your children. Put it in your blog or on your website. In this way, the good work you do will be multiplied(增加)!
根据材料内容，选择最佳答案。
1. People usually think helping others is ________.
A. difficult          B. easy        C. interesting             D. exciting
2. How can you help others of you are poor according the passage?
A. Donate your money.  B. Talk to them.  C. Donate your time.  D. Play with them.
3. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “homeless”?
A.家境贫寒的            B.无家可归的       C.无依无靠的      D.没有父母的
4. How many ways does the passage tell us to do if we want to help others?
A. One.                   B. Two.           C. Three.            D. Four.
5. What’s the best title of this passage?
A. Help those who need help                      B. It is not easy to help others
C. How to be a happy person                         D. Donate your time

At school many things happen to us. We may feel excited when we have success in a school play. We may feel sorry if we lose an important game. We want to keep the memory for the rest of our lives.

How to keep the memory? Our English teacher, Miss Wang, has taught us a good way of remembering things to make our own yearbook. What is a yearbook? A yearbook is a kind of book which is used to keep the memory of exciting moments. It’s usually made at the end of the year.

Last December, we began to make our yearbook. First we chose the persons who had done something special, then some students interviewed (采访) them, some wrote down their stories, others took photos of them. Everyone in our class had something to do. Finally our teacher helped us to put the things together. We had our first yearbook.

All of us put a lot of love into making the yearbook. It is so wonderful that not only the students but also our parents and teachers will remember the special time for ever.

1.When we have success in a school play, we may feel ______

A. sorry        B. angry        C. excited      D. interested

2.Miss Wang’s good way of remembering things is to ______

A. buy a new book   B. write down stories  

C. take a lot of photos     D. make a yearbook

3.A yearbook is made to ______

A. take notes   B. keep the memory  C. do our homework  D. remember English words

4.Usually a yearbook is made in ______

A. January B. February     C. May D. December

5.We made our first yearbook ______

A. without any help                 B. without putting our love into it

C. with the help of our teacher         D. with the help of our parents